“I don’t think the men of the left are any more or less misogynistic than any other group of men,” McLaughlin said. Whether the new socialist left can transcend its peripheral status will depend on if it can incorporate - and listen to - the women in the movement demanding a firmer stance against sexism. Though the DSA quadrupled in size in the past year alone, it’s still a blip in the larger left-wing universe. Socialist women are becoming increasingly vocal in decrying what they call socialist men’s encouragement of misogyny, while also stressing that leftist attacks on the Democratic Party cannot be reduced to sexism and that sexism is not confined to the left.įor McLaughlin and other socialist women, the fate of a renewed American socialism may hinge on this fight.
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A series of controversies over the past two weeks - many of which have stemmed indirectly from sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein - has reinvigorated a debate over whether the socialist left has done enough to condemn the misogyny in the ranks of a movement explicitly devoted to gender equality. To many leftists, these criticisms felt like a smokescreen to distract from centrists’ unwillingness to confront more fundamental class divides.īut now similar criticisms are coming from within.
During the 2016 primary, some Hillary Clinton supporters argued that misogynist "Bernie Bros" were unfairly criticizing their candidate.
“It comes out through harassment, abuse, mansplaining, or ignoring women.”Īllegations of sexism against the socialist left aren't new. Other socialist women have told her they’re “tired of men not paying attention to the world outside of them,” she said. “At steering committee meetings, I’m interrupted by men who feel they can talk over me,” she said of her organization, which is 65 percent male. And the Democratic Socialists of America, where she is the Washington, DC, chair, isn’t always a refuge. Like many women, Margaret McLaughlin is used to dealing with sexism and harassment, whether it’s on the street or in the workplace.